Pig casting machine



Aug. 1, 1939. 1w ER 2,167,883

PIG CASTING MACHINE I Filed April 26, 1938 8 Sheets-Sheet 1 ORNE Aug. 1, 1939. .1. w. FERREE 2,157,583

PIG CASTING MACHINE Filed April 26, 1938 s' Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY.

g- 1939- J. w. FERREE 2,167,883

PIG CASTING MACHINE Filed April 26, 1958 8 Sheets-Sheet 3 ENTOR 9AM 45 M ATTORNEY.

Aug. 1, J w FERREE 2,167,883

PIG CASTING MACHINE Filed April 26, 1958 8 Sheets-Sheet 4 m ENTOR ATTORNEY J. W. FERREE v PIG CASTING MACHINE Filed April 26, 1938 's Sheets-Sheet s INVENTOR 91 Jmw I ATTORNEY J. W. FERREE PIG CASTING MACHINE Filed April 26, 1958 Aug. 1, 1939.

8 Sheets-Sheet 6 ATTORNEY.

' 1, 1939- J. w. FERREE FIG CASTING MACHINE Filed April 26, 1938 8 Sheets-Sheet 7 IN TOR ATTORNEY,

Aug. 1, 1939. w, FERREE 2,167,883

PIG CASTING MACHINE Filed April 26, 1958 s sheets-Sheet B wVMTOR artiste .rra casrnve Maenrun Jay W. Ferree, Pittsburgh, Pa. implication April 26, M38, Serial No. 2%,32l

lit filaims.

This invention relates to pig iron casting machines.

For a period of approximately forty years, pig casting machines have not been materially changed in design. The machines now in use and as used over this long period embody two spaced endless chains between which the pig moulds are supported, and head and tail sprockets over which the chains run. The links of these chains also carry wheels which run on support rails.

' Because of the high temperatures to which the links, wheels and pins on which the wheels were journaled, were subjected, the links, pins and wheels were made of heat and corrosive resistant alloys. Also because of design of such prior art machines and the temperature conditions encountered, it was impractical and impossible to beneficially lubricate the wheel pins. This fact required the wheels to be made with bores much larger than the pins. These large pin clearances would not hold lubricant and besides were receptacles for dirt, with the result that the wheels often locked and slid on the rails causing fiat spots to wear on the wheels. Furthermore, because of the arrangement of the links and wheels, the sprockets could not engage the link pins in such away as to effect a straight or line-in-line pull on the links. This resulted both in excessive wear and bending of the link pins.

In the prior art type of pig casting machines, many moving parts were involved, and this together with the aforementioned structural features of such machines, resulted in high maintenance and replacement costs. Furthermore, the rails of the prior art machines would bend and warp in service, causing the chains to run unevenly and to get out of alignment, and a most common objection was that one chain would wear more than the other, with the result that one chain would lag behind the other.

An object of this invention is to provide a pig casting machine that shall be more rugged, simpler in design, and more economical to operate than prior art machines.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pig casting machine in which the wheels formerly carried by the chains of prior art machines are eliminated from the chains and utilized as support tracks for the chains.

A further object of. theinvention is to provide a track wheel construction that will make lubrication, preferably sealed lubrication, possible and practicable.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a chain and sprocket construction that will impose a straight or line-in-line pull on the chain links and distributed and balanced shear and bending loads on the link pins.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a chain construction in which there will be no wear on the male and female ends of the links, and to provide a compound bushing type link pin that will take all the wear and be easily replaced or renewed.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a novelv and improved construction for attaching the pig moulds to the links, and a construction that will allow for easy renewal or replacement of moulds.

And a still further object of the invention is to provide a pig casting machine that shall have decidedly fewer moving and wearing parts than any prior art pig casting machine known to me.

Another object of my invention is to provide means which will permit use of the apparatus even after the joints in one chain have become so worn that it lags behind the other chain.

Figure 1 is a fragmentary fore-shortened general organization view in side elevation of a machine embodying one form of the invention, the head and tail sprockets being shown in the relative elevational positions-which they would occupy if a full side view of the machine were shown;

Figs. 2 and 3 are enlarged views in section of the top and bottom runs, respectively, of the con veyor taken on lines II-II and III-III of Figure 1;

Fig. 3a is a view in section of a sprocket and chain assembly such asillustrated by the views previously described but showing a modified form of mould;

Figs. 4 and 5 are enlarged fragmentary side elevational and top plan views showing the con struction of the track wheels and chains on one side of the machine and the arrangement for supporting the pig moulds on and securing them to the links of the chains;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view in section taken on line VI--VI of Figure 5, showing the relation of the pig mould supports to the chain links and the bearing construction for the track wheels which makes lubrication practicable and usefully possible;

Figs. 7, 8 and 9 are enlarged top plan, rear and front elevation views, respectively, of a chain link; v

Fig. 10 is a view of the male end of a chain Fig. 11 is a sectional view of the link taken on line XIX[ of Figure 9;

Figs. 12, 13 and 14 are top plan, side and end elevation views, respectively, of a pig mould sup- Figs. 15 and 16 are side and edge views, respectively, of a bushing which forms part of the link pin construction;

Figs. 17 and 18 are end and side elevation views, respectively, of a bushing which in combination with the bushing of Figures 15 and 16 forms a chain link pin;

Fig. 19 is an enlarged View in side'elevation of a sprocket wheel used in the head and tail sprockets;

Fig. 20 is a view in section taken on line XX-XX of Figure 19';

Fig. 21 is a plan view showing a modification of the chain link structure of Figs. 6 to 9; and

Fig. 22 is a cross-sectional view thereof.

The pig casting machine illustrated in the drawings represents what now appears to be a preferred embodiment of the invention, and comprises an endless conveyor I, the runs or reaches of which travel in the direction indicated by the arrows, a tail sprocket 2, and a head sprocket 3,

located at a higher elevation than the tail sprocket (see Fig. 1). The conveyor can be of any desired length, depending on the number of pig moulds required and the speed at which the conveyor is to be operated. In the type of machine illustrated, molten metal is poured from a supply, not shown, while the conveyor is in motion, into the moulds at a point near the tail sprocket, say at point A. The conveyor is driven at such a speed that by the time a mould has traveled from point A to the head sprocket 3, the metal, which was poured into it at point A, will be frozen or solidified. As the moulds pass over the head sprocket the pigs. so called, fall out into a receiver (not shown). In a pig machine of this type, the conveyor is driven by the headsprocket which in turn is usually driven by an electric-motor drive (not shown) coupled to the shaft thereof. By driving the conveyor in the direction indicated from the head sprocket, the upper reach of the conveyor is in tension.

Conveyor I includes spaced chains 4-4 of similar construction that mesh with the sprocket wheels of the tail and head sprockets 2 and 2, and these chains carry molten metal receiving molds 5. The tail sprocket 2 includes two sprocket wheels 6, spaced on and keyed to a shaft 1 as in Fig. 3a, and one of these wheels meshes with chain 4 and the other with chain 4'. Since the head and tail sprockets are identical the sprocket wheels thereof are designated by the same reference characters.

The shaft I of sprockets 6 is journaled insultable bearings 8 (one on each side of the conveyor, but only one of which is shown) mounted on rugged pedestals 9. 'Shaft- I of sprocket 2 is journaled in bearing l0 .(one on each side of the conveyor, but only one of which is shown) mount- 4 ed in take-up devices H carried by a structural support member l2. Only one take-up device is shown, but it will be understood that the other is on the side opposite to the one shown in Fig. 1. Each take-up device comprises a housing "having an elongated window l4-'therein, along which a. bearing It may be adjusted by means of a take-up screw IS. The purpose and function of these take-up devices are well understood in this art and need no further description.

The portions of the upper and lower runs or reaches of the conveyor I between the head and tail sprockets are supported on tracks lS-IO' and il-ll', respectively, there being two tracks for each chain, one for the upper and one for th lower reach thereof (see Figs. 2 and 3).

Each of the tracks comprises a plurality of wheels I! supported line-in-line on I-beams l5, forming a part of the structural work required to support the. conveyor. The wheels are provided with flanges 20 disposed to engage the outer edges of the chains 4-4', thereby guiding the chains and holding them on their course of travel. work, pedestals 2| are provided. Each pedestal is preferably of U-shape to accommodate a wheel between the legs thereof, and each wheel is rotatively supported by a pin 22, the ends of which extend through the legs of the pedestal. Each wheel pin or axle 22 is preferably stationary 'and locked in place by means of a bolt 22 passing through one of the legs of pedestal 2| and registering with a recess 24 in the pin.

At this point, it is to be recalled that one of the objects of this invention was to provide a pig machine which could be lubricated with effectiveness and that the construction of the links of the conveyor chains was to be such that no wear would take place at the ends of the links where they are joined by the link pins. By employing stationary wheels to provide a track for the conveyor chains, the wheels are not subject to extremely high temperatures. One reason for this is that no appreciable amount of heat is transferred from the pig moulds to the wheels by conduction because only line contact occurs between the links of the chains and the wheel. The heat transferred by convection and radiation, while considerable, is not sumcient to raise the temperature of the wheels to a point where lubrication cannot be effectively maintained.

While the stationary wheel track is ideal for lubrication, this type of construction lends itself also to the use of anti-friction bearings which in itself vastly improves the ease and smoothness of operation of the conveyor and materially reduces the power required to drive the conveyor. Each wheel, as shown by Fig. 6 is designed to be lubricated and is also provided with an antifrictlon bearing 25. The hub of each wheel is provided with oil seals 26, of any suitable construction, which retain the lubrication supplied to the bearings.

To facilitate lubrication, each wheel pin is provided with a passageway 21 extending from the outer end thereof and this passage terminates in a transverse passageway 28 that communicates at each end with the bearing. Passageway 21 may be threaded as at 20 to receive a lubricating fitting or the wheel pins may be connected up to a lubricant distribution line through which lubricant may be conveyed at constant pressure or intermittently. Since such methods or systems for supplying lubricant are well known in the art, it is believed unnecessary to illustrate and describe them herein. The chains of conveyor I are made up of links II which for convenience of manufacture are made identical in shape and form and interchangeable i. e., the links can be used in either of chains 4 or 4'. These links as shown in Figs. 1 and 4 are connected by link pins 32.

To avoid sagging of the chains at the point between track wheels II, the length of the links,

as measured from center to center of the link pins. is made greater than the distance between 75 To support the wheels on the framelid ill are provided. Means ll arouses wheels it as measured from center to center of the wheel pins it. By utilizing links of such length, each link will have at all times a two point support. This is so even when the joined ends of two links are between a pair of wheels it, because each link is solidlysupported by a wheel and because any portion of a link that overhangs a wheel on one side tends to be counterbalanced by the portion of the link overhanging the other side of the wheel.

As may be seen in Figs. 3a, e and 7 to 11 inelusive, the body of such link is of substantially channel shape in section i. e., there are two hori zontal flanges it and it connected at their inner edges by a vertical web it. One end of each link has a tongue ll positioned centrally of the link body and two spaced tongues it which in effect are continuations of the sides of the body. The space between tongue l is such that a tongue ll of an adjacent link may be received between them. Tongues ill and it are provided with pin holes ill" and it to receive the link pins ill. Pin holes ill are larger in diameter than holes it for a purpose that will be apparent from the description of the link pins. If one is concerned only with the coupling of the links together without regard to the'question of moving parts, any kind of link pin could be used.

But if one is concerned with reducing the number of moving parts, and the attendant wear, a link pin of the type illustrated in rigs. in to 18 inclusive is preferred. The links and the pins are designed to prevent relative turning of the pins and the links thereby avoiding any wear on the surfaces of the links engaged by the pins.

The link pins each comprise a relatively short ring-like bushing ll and a relatively long bush-= ing Bushing till is received in the pin hole of a tongue ill and the length thereof is substantially equal to the width of the tongue. To prevent turning of this bushing in the pin hole, the bushing is formed with a key or lug/ ll that registers with a keyway ti.

Bushing i l is relatively long and portions thereof may extend beyond the tongues to be engaged by the teeth of sprockets whereby the center of pull of the head sprocket will be ccincident with the longitudinal axes of the links, as will be explained later herein.

The outside diameter of bushing ill is made slightly less than the diameter of pin holes lit and the internal diameter of bushing lit. The difference between the internal diameter of bushing it and the external diameter of bushing ll should be such as to provide a neat running fit.

lilushing ill passes through pin holes tilt and bushing til and is provided with a flange lilo that engages a tongue lid on the outside at a link. To prevent turning of bushing lls in pin holes lit the outside tongue it is provided with a lug il l that engages a flat side it of the bushing flange its. For convenience, flange lla is made square in form thereby providing four flat sides ib any one of which may have locking engagement with lug ill. en a pair of links have been connected by a link pin ill the only surfaces that are subjected to wear are the internal surface of bushing lb and that portion of the euternal surface of bushing til engaged by bushing til.

In order to hold link pins it in place, means is preferably a rod which extends through bushings M of a pair of links, i.'e., a link in each chain t and d, the

busgs being hollow to accommodate the rods.

Rods ill serve a three-fold function, one being to hold the link pins in place, another being to resist spreading of the conveyor chains, and a third being to reenforce the link pins. The rods may be held in place with cotter pins tit.

It will be apparent from the construction of the links ti and track wheels it, that the mechanical wear on these parts in service will be practically negligible, and that only the bushings are likely to encounter appreciable wear, but as these bushings are small, inexpensive, and easily renewed, the maintenance cost of a machine of this character should be exceptionally low.

The moulds ii'a're secured to the links it of the chains by means of supports ill. For moulds of standard size, links it are long enough to carry two moulds as shown in Figs. t and 5. Supports it each include a horizontal flange lit and a vertical flange bl having downwardly converging sides hl, and these flanges are reenforced with webs bit. The inner face of web it of each link is recessed adjacent the ends of the body thereof as at till, by offsetting the web. These recesses are open at the top and are given a shape corresponding to the shape of flanges iii of supports lid.

Each pig mould has a flange ht at each end which is bolted to the flange bit of a support till, two bolts being preferred and the vertical flange iii of each support is secured to its associated link with a single bolt til.

Preferably one-eighth inch clearance is provided around each of the bolts which connect the flanges lit to the flanges lit, so that there can be such pivotal movement between the moulds and the chains that if, through wear at the joints, one chain it lags behind the other chain hi, the apparatus can be continued in use with? out such overstrain as will cause breakage of the arts. p To give rigidity to the attachment of supports id to links ill, a cored boss bl is formed at each point where a bolt till is employed, and these bosses extend to the outer faces of the links and form an abutment for the nuts ilt which are threaded on the bolts. By securing the pig moulds to the chain links in this manner, moulds may be replaced conveniently by merely taking out bolts tit and lilting the mould with its supports out of the links. It will of coursebe understood that the bolts that connect the molds to the flanges can have a snug lit with the holes, if no flekible or pivotal connection is desired, as where the conveyor is short and the cumulative wear will not be great.

Figs. 21 and 2'2 show a modified form of chain link lit which may be employed in lieu of the links heretofore described. The horizontal flanges lit, which correspond to the flanges Elli of the previously described links, are cast integrally with the links instead of being bolted thereto. These flanges are each provided with a single hole ill for receiving bolts that connect the molds b to the chains. A pair of molds it can be connected to each chain link, and the single bolt connection at each end of a mold will permit of some lost motion or pivotal movement which will reduce strains which would occur if one chain lags somewhat behind the other, through wear in the chain links or at the sprockets. It will be understood, of course, that two holes could be provided in each of these flanges as in the case of the flanges W.

The sprocket wheels t are provided with a series of double teeth lit, spaced to straddle links lit till) till iitli Till ,all oy steel, 1. e., high manganese ceived as thenchains pass over the sprockets. As

may be seen in Fig. 3a, the teeth are made so long that ample clearance is provided between the bottom of links 3i and the rim SI of the sprocket wheels.

The type of machine disclosed herein lends itself to greater capacity than prior art machines because of the ruggedness of the links, the ease of operation afforded by the anti-friction bearing track wheels and the straight pull which the head sprocket imposes on the links. This increased capacity can be obtained by employing usually long conveyors or, for a given length of conveyor, by employing double moulds 5, such as shown in Fig. 3a. These double moulds have two cavities E and F, each of which can be large enough to allow pigs of standard size to be cast. When' double moulds are used, the spacing between the sprocket wheels 6 and the chains 44' would be increased to the extent required, and this can be accomplished without appreciably increasing "the dimensions of the chain links, the link pins or the sprocket wheels.

Heretofore the chains, link pins, and wheels of prior art machines have been made of special steel that will resist wear and corrosion resulting from high temperatures. This alloy was difiicult to cast and practically impossible to machine, in fact it has been the practice to resort to so-called'preci- ,sion casting, allowing suiilcient clearances for moving parts to make machining unnecessary. The pig machine herein disclosed affords opportunity for such ruggedness of design that it is possible to use good steel castings for links, and

machined hardened high grade steel bushing link pins. Of course these link pins can also be made of high grade manganese steel cast to exact dimensions. But since the link pins represent such a small part of the total metal employed, only a small part of the machine is required to be made of expensive material, whereas the prior art machines, the entire links, the link pins and wheels were made of expensive wearresistant metal. The wheels may be of cast iron or cast steel and these also may be machined to provide fine working tits.

I claim as my invention:

1. A metal casting machine comprising spaced endless chains made up of links, molten metal receiving moulds carried by opposite links of said chains, sprocket wheels at -the head and tail of each of said chains and a track for supporting the forward and return reaches of the chains, said tracks comprising stationarily mounted wheels disposed line-in-line, each link comprising 'a body having spaced horizontal flanges connected by a vertical web, said body having at one end a centrally disposed tongue and at the other end provided with spaced tongues between which the centrally disposed tongue of an adjacent link -may be received, said tongues being apertured to receive a link pin arranged to mesh with the teeth of the sprocket wheels.

2. A metal casting machine comprising spaced endless chains made up of links, molten metal receiving moulds carried by opposite links of said chains, sprocket wheels at the head and, tail of each of said chains and-a track for supporting the forward and return reaches of the chains, said tracks comprising stationarily mounted wheels'disposed line-in-line, each link comprising a body having spaced horizontal flanges connected by a vertical web, said body having at one end a centrally disposed tongue and at the other end provided with spaced tongues between which the centrally disposed tongue of an adjacent link may be received, said tongues being apertured to receive a link pin arranged to mesh with the teeth of the sprocket wheels, characterized by the fact that the inner face or side of vertical webs of said links are recessed to receive angle members and that the opposite ends of a mould are secured to the angle members of directly opposed links of said chains.

3. A metal casting machine comprising spaced endless chains each made up of links, sprocket wheels at the head and tail ends of each chain. and molten metal receiving moulds carried by the links of said chains, characterized by the fact that the links of each chain are connected together by link pins having portions projecting on each side thereof, and that each sprocket wheel is provided with double teeth spaced to straddle the links of the chain running thereon.

4. A metal casting machine comprising spaced endless chains each made up of pin-connected links, sprocket wheels disposed at the head and tail. ends of said chains, track means for supporting the forward and return reaches of said chains, members abutting against the inner faces of the links of said chains, means for removably securing said members to said links, an inwardly projecting portion on each of said members for covering each of said securing means, and moltenmetal receiving moulds carried by the projecting portions of said members.

5. A metal casting machine comprising spaced endless chains each made up of a series of pinconnected links, sprocket wheels disposed at the head and tail ends of said chains, roller elements for supporting the forward and return reaches of said chains, 9. member abutting against the inner face of each link of each said chain and having a shelf extending inwardly at substantially right angles to said link, means projecting underneath and protected 'by said shelf for securing each said member to its respective link, a molten metal receiving mould having a flange oneach end thereof adapted to rest on the shelves of the members on directly opposite links, and means for securing said flanges to said shelves.

6. A metal casting machine comprising spaced endless chains each made up of a series of pinconnected links and each having a recess in its inner face, sprocket wheels disposed at the head and tail ends of said chains, anti-friction means means projecting underneath and protected by the shelf on said member for securing each said member to its respective link, and a molten metal receiving mould having its ends secured to the shelves of opposed members. 7

'7; A metal casting machine comprising spaced endless chains made up of links carrying molten metal receiving moulds, sprocket wheels driving the chains. and spaced stationarily moimted wheels for supporting the forward and return reaches of the chains, characterized by the fact that each mould is secured to directly opposite links of said chains, and also characterized by the fact that links-of each chainare connected by link pins having porti n pr jecting to each side of-suchlinks,andthatthesprocketwheelsassomemes cinted with each chnln ere providedwlth double teeth spaced to strnddle the llnhs ct cinch chem end to engage the proiectintportlone ot the hole pins to thereby enert n pull on the chelns, the direction of which to snhstsntlelip colncld'ent With the loneltndihnfl ones or the llhhst t ll rnetel cnstlne mechlne colnprlslhn sphcetl endless chnins mode npol llnlrs cnrrplnn molten rnetnl recelt'lnp rnonlds, sprocltet Wheels clrlrlne the chelns, end Wheels tor snpportlne the lessened end retnrn renches ot' the chnins, chnrecterlned he the loot thet esch monld is secured to dlrectlp opposite lihlrs ot sold cheins, end else cherecterlsecl he the loot thnt the llnlrs ench comprise it lends herlne spnced horlnontnl fleeces connected hp n rertlcnl Weh, sold hotly hnvlne et one end n centreliy disposed tonnne end st the other end WWO: vided With speced tonn'nw hett'een nhlch the centrnllp disposed tongue of en ndghcent linh men he received, said tongues heinp npertnred. to receive n llnk pin enanged to mesh with the teeth of the sprocket wheels.

h. A metal casting machine comprisins' pairs of head and tail sprockets, spaced endless chains made up ofv pin connected links operating over said sprockets and carrying molten metal receiving" moulds extending crosswise between the spncecl stntlonnrllp nronnted I chains and a series of spaced stationarily mounted wheels supporting the forward and return reaches ol the chains, characterized by the fact that the llnhs of etch chain are connected hy link plns tnht project from each nee oi" the llnhs end that ench sproclret wheel to provided with ctr-cum lerentlnlly nrrnnpetl pnlrs ot teeth spnc'ed to streddle the lihhs or" n chain rnnnlne thereon end to ehenne the protecting portions of the llhh hlhs ol. snch chnln.

lll. tn n pie cestlne mnchine, e. pnlr ot speceol heed sproclrets, n pnlr oil spncecl tell sproclrets, en

endless conveyor operetinn over seld sprockets end h'lnde hp ct two pernllel endless chnlns of pin connected llhhs, ench chem rnnnlne over one heed sprocket end one tell sprocket, ench or said llnhs heignn ennlppedl with s support portion which projects lnnerdlp tower-d the longltudinnl center ot the conveyor, molten metal receiving [molds cnrrled hp ssid support portions, lost motion connections between sold molds and said supports to prevent breakage in event of one of said chains rnnninn ahead of the other, and two parallel rows of spaced, aligned, fixed axis wheels which bridge the distance between said head and tail sprockets and support the links making up the forward and return reaches of said conveyor. JAY W. FERREE.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTIONo Patent No. 2,167,885. August 1, 19 9..

JAY w. FERREE.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the abovenumbered patent requiring correction as follows Page L1 first column, line 16, for the word "usually" read unusually; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office(:

Signed and sealed this 26th day of September, A, Do 1959 Henry Van Arsdale (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

